Finally Had a Clear Enough Night

Incredibly cold of course, but clear enough to put on my electric jacket, parka, and snow boots.   I still need to get the Televue finder for this, but with careful aiming along the tube and using the 50mm eyepiece (12x) I was able to get M42 in field.  The 18mm eyepiece (33x) split the Trapezium cleanly.   No chance for the other four stars (e through h) with 85mm of aperture but the Nebula was plainly visible, enough for a March 3 star party when it should be just cold.  I might have obtained a good view at 20x or 25x but it was too cold to be swapping eyepieces for very long.

At these low powers an alt-azimuth mount works fine, and fast to get outside and back in.  I still take the scope off the mount first.  The scope mounts it a little unbalanced.  Falling or tripping with the tripod would hurt but it is not a $3000 telescope.